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This months Daring Bakers challenge was a Yule Log. A Yule Log is basically a cake that is made to look like a log. I had never seen or heard of a yule log and I was looking forward to making it. I ended up procrastinating until the very end. In fact I just finished making the yule log now. (I really need to try to start the January challenge earlier.) Like many Daring Baker challenges this one had several components including the genoise cake, a butter cream and marzipan mushrooms.

Genoise Cake

The genoise cake looked fairly similar to the sponge cake in the Pumpkin Cake Roll that I made not too long ago. I was a bit surprised by how little flour there is in the cake. It seemed to be mostly eggs... Lots of eggs with lots of beating. It is times like these that I wish I had the space for a mixer! I rolled up my sleeves and pulled out my trusty pair of forks and got to beating. The cake turned out pretty good. It was nice and airy and light. I just went with a plain cake but next time I think that I would flavour it. One step successfully done and two to go.

Directions:1. Whisk the eggs, egg yolks, salt and sugar in a bowl.2. place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and whisk until the the mixture is luke warm.3. Remove from the heat and beat until the mixture has cooled and tripled in size.4. Mix the flour and corn starch in a bowl.5. Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture one third at a time.6. Pour the mixture into an 10x15 inch jelly pan lined with parchment paper.7. Bake in a preheated 400F oven for about 10 minutes or until the cake springs back when lightly pressed.8. Let the cake cool on a rack.

Chocolate Butter Cream

After all of the beating for the genoise I was looking for a break but to my dismay there was even more beating for the butter cream. This was supposed to be a coffee butter cream but I am not a fan of coffee so I decided to go with a chocolate butter cream. I added a third of a bar of dark chocolate to the eggs and sugar while beating them over the simmering water. This step did not go nearly as well as the first step. The butter cream did not thicken... It was too runny no matter how much I beat it and I did not have enough butter to try making it a second time. In the end I placed it in the fridge for a while and it thickened enough for me to get it on the cake. Despite being a bit runny the butter cream tasted really good!

Directions:1. Whisk the eggs, sugar and chocolate in a bowl over simmering water until the the eggs are hot and the chocolate has completely melted2. Beat the mixture until it has cooled.3. Beat in the butter until smooth.

Marzipan Mushrooms

I was able to find a package that was labeled almond paste/marzipan. The original recipe called for mixing the the almond paste with icing sugar and corn syrup but I found that it already had just the right sweetness and consistency out of the package. Forming the mushrooms was kind of fun. I used some nutella spread to attach the mushroom caps to the stems and I the dusted them with a bit of cocoa powder.

All in all the Yule log turned out pretty good. I had some trouble with the butter cream but it did not detract from the flavour of the cake. I will have to try making some butter cream again in the future so that I can get it right. It was kind of fun to make the cake look like a log and decorate it just for the fun of decorating it.

Now it's time to go and take a look at the other Daring Bakers Yule Logs.

Does this recipe look tasty?

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Your buttercream looks so smooth. And like you, I also started the challenge at the last minute. I did it on Friday, the 21st, and even had to repeat each component because of some fudging up. But anyway, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

we did ours today, too... Steven made the mushrooms yesterday but the bulk of the work was today... Yours reminds me of a log at our campsite a couple of years ago... it had these three huge mushrooms on it that my cousin picked and cooked for his family... great job!

This cake looks amazing. I shall be taking part of the daring bakers in the near future (can't wait), hopefully, I'll have my mixer by then! I only own a whisk, so know how much work and effort you must have put into this. Well done.

Wanted to let you know I baked your carrot cake yesterday. Looks so very delicious, however, it's for a friend. And I only got to lick the bowl. :( (Will blog it and shall link to you!)

Hi Kevin,Yes, the buttercream can be a bit tricky. I don't even like buttercream, but I made some anyway because it was a requirement. Your mushrooms I have to say if perfect! I love how you used nutella. Now why didn't I think of that... next time. Not for the log though, I don't think that i will make it again, but i will definitely make marzipan again.

You did a great job on your DB challenge! Despite the troubles you had with the buttercream, it looks very nice. I love the DB challenges that have multiple components - gives me more chances to screw something up ;) Happy new year, Kevin (I have so many more DB blogs to get through!!)

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About Me

I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.